Mancini Returns to Lead Italy as Ranieri Takes Strategic Role

Roberto Mancini is back in charge of the Italian national team, with Claudio Ranieri appointed as technical director in a heavyweight reunion at the top of the Azzurri set-up.

The 61-year-old, who previously guided Italy on the international stage and famously led Manchester City to a Premier League title, returns from a successful spell in Qatar. His most recent job saw him win the Stars League with Al-Sadd, a reminder that his knack for delivering trophies has not dulled with time.

Now he steps back into the pressure cooker of international football, this time with Ranieri alongside him in a strategic capacity. Ranieri, another veteran of Europe’s biggest dugouts, will operate above the touchline chaos, shaping the broader technical and sporting direction while Mancini takes charge of the team on the pitch.

This new structure arrives after a turbulent spell behind the scenes. An attempt to appoint Andrea Pirlo was blocked, a move that triggered the resignations of Paolo Maldini and Leonardo from their roles. The fallout left a vacuum at the top of the project.

Mancini and Ranieri now walk into that space together — two of Italy’s most seasoned coaches, charged with steadying the institution and driving it forward. The question is not whether they have the experience. It is how quickly they can turn a fractured hierarchy into a united, winning national side.